Details of Disappearance

Simpson was last seen in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania on February 28, 1982. She was employed at the Magic Lamp Bar and Grill at the time, and was last seen just after midnight with the bar's owner, Gary R. Kunish.

She did not return to her daughter's home after work on February 28 and has never been heard from again. An extensive search turned up indication of Simpson's whereabouts. After her disappearance, spots of blood were found at the bar.

A month and a half after she was last seen, Kunish was charged with her murder. He had had an intermittent romantic relationship with Simpson prior to her disappearance, but she broke up with him at Christmastime in 1981 and began seeing another man. Kunish was reportedly enraged by this.

Prosecutors did not have Simpson's body, a murder weapon or a confession, but a jury convicted Kunish of involuntary manslaughter in September 1982. This was only the second time in the history of Pennsylvania that a defendant had been convicted of murder without the victim's body.

Kunish was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was paroled in 1988 and successfully completed the parole in 1995. He died in 1996. He never confessed or revealed the whereabouts of Simpson's body.

Authorities believe Simpson's remains are probably in the former Varos Landfill in Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania. They searched the landfill at one time, but found no evidence, and the search was eventually discontinued due to prohibitive costs.